Theegarten-Pactec gains climate protection certificates underlining its sustainability focus
Theegarten-Pactec's stand at Interpack, with the business heading to Dubai for Gulfood Manufacturing Pic: Neill Barston
German-based packaging equipment specialist, Theegarten-Pactec, has built on its recently acquired carbon neutral status with key climate protection certificates issued from sustainability business Fokus Zukunft, reports Neill Barston.
As the business explained to Confectionery Production at this year’s Interpack, creating machinery lines that have retained a strong emphasis on delivering high levels of performance and efficiency remains at the heart of its manufacturing approach. (see our exclusive video review of the major global event in Dusseldorf last month here, where we interview the Dresden firm’s president and CEO, Markus Rustler).
According to the company, for the certification (which it attained at the start of 2023), the environmental consultants recorded all greenhouse gas emissions directly related to their own value creation. Notably the company believed the certification represents an important step forward, as it has long been actively involved in sustainability and environmental protection.
With the climate protection certificates, Theegarten-Pactec supports internationally recognised and controlled climate protection projects relating to wind energy, hydropower and biomass in various countries. The fact that companies can become climate neutral through financial participation in such important climate protection projects was formulated in the Kyoto Protocol adopted in 1997: Accordingly, greenhouse gases that are produced somewhere on Earth and are inevitable are to be saved elsewhere through climate protection projects. The logic behind it: For the climate, it is irrelevant where in the world the emissions are saved – the global total of greenhouse gases is what counts.
Theegarten-Pactec sees offsetting merely as an accompanying measure within a corporate climate strategy. Managing Director Markus Rustler already has plans for the future: “We initially adopted this approach in order for our company to become CO2-neutral from this year onwards. In the longer term, we will of course look at further savings opportunities. These could be achieved, for example, by building solar panels on our buildings or buying “green electricity”. A further step will then involve the CO2-neutrality of our products. In addition, we use cast steel for the base housing of many of our machines. This is very energy-intensive, both in terms of production and in further processing. So, there is still room for improvement there, too. Because as a company, we are aware of our responsibility to contribute to a future worth living and we are absolutely committed to this.”
Emissions progress
As CEO Markus Rustler explained, the calculations made by the environmental consultancy have underlined its continued development. He said “Fokus Zukunft certifies that we are already very well positioned as a machine builder with regard to our CO2 footprint. Especially with our new building of our headquarters in 2017 and the conversion of processes, we have already been able to reduce our emissions by 40 percent, even though we have increased our turnover and headcount in recent years.”
Consequently, the business noted that the main culprits are quickly identified. For example, business trips and electricity consumption make the biggest impact at Theegarten-Pactec. Markus Rustler explains further: “Unfortunately, we will not be able to do without electricity and business trips in the future either, as we have to install our machines on site at the customer’s premises, for example. That is why we have looked at alternatives. The first step is to purchase high-quality CO2 certificates.